Frequently asked questions Budget Pro

Budget Pro has been developed to be as user friendly as possible and we hope you’ll thoroughly enjoy using the App. To help you in getting started with Budget Pro, we’ve put together our most commonly asked questions. If your question isn’t answered here, please drop us an email and we’ll reply as soon as we can!

What is Budget Pro?

Budget Pro is a powerful budgeting tool produced by Costs to Expect. With simple tools to help you get started, Budget Pro allows you to manage up to three budgets and see your financial projections for the future. With complex frequency and exclusions features, Budget Pro allows you to create an accurate, up-to-date budget to keep your finances on track.

Why should I use Budget Pro?

We believe Budget Pro is different from other budgeting apps because we focus on what’s happening in the future, providing accurate projections so that you can monitor your budget month to month. Our frequency and exclusions features mean you can build a really accurate budget that will help you plan and make informed financial decisions.

We use Budget Pro to manage our own budget and are continuously testing it and adding features that improve the user experience. We have many new features planned and these will be included in the one-off, lifetime license.

What’s the difference between Budget and Budget Pro?

Budget is our simple, free budget planner app which allows you to manage one budget.

Budget Pro requires a lifetime license, which gives you access to much more advanced features including managing up to three different budgets, complex frequencies and exclusions controls for budget items. These advanced tools give you the ability to fully customise your budget and see your future budget projections. Budget Pro also enables you to add a savings account and set a target for your savings. You’ll be able to see when you’re expected to reach your savings target and you can also do transfers from one account to another.

If you are already using our free Budget App, you can import your budget into Budget Pro when you sign-in.

What does lifetime license mean exactly?

Lifetime license means you’ll pay one fee to access the service and that’s it. This one-off payment gives you access to all the features in Budget Pro, as well as all our future updates. Our Road Map provides details of the updates that we have planned and this is constantly reviewed and updated.

Are updates included in the lifetime license fee?

Yes. It’s our promise to you that you’ll pay one Lifetime license fee and this will include all of the updates that we ever add to Budget Pro. That’s it – one-off payment, no extra costs.

Can I pay a monthly subscription to use Budget Pro?

After careful consideration, we have decided against a monthly subscription option. We are acutely aware of Subscription Fatigue and ironically, the impact that this can have on personal budgets!

We think a one-off lifetime license is more convenient for our users and better value for money. With our lifetime license, you’ll always be able to come back to Budget Pro – even if your usage lapses for a period.

What currencies does Budget Pro support?

Budget Pro currently supports seven currencies - US Dollar (USD), NZ Dollar (NZD), Indian Rupee (INR), Sterling (GBP), Euro (EUR), Canadian Dollar (CAD) and Australian Dollar (AUD). In future updates of Budget Pro, we plan to add support for further currencies.

How many budgets can I create in Budget Pro?

You can create up to 3 budgets with Budget Pro which makes it the perfect tool to use if your finances are complex or perhaps if you’re managing both personal and professional budgets.

You can track more than one account within a budget. For example, if you are a couple with separate accounts and incomes, the app enables you to combine your accounts and transactions into one budget.

How do I create my budget?

When you first sign-in to your Budget Pro account, you’ll be on the “Let’s get Started” page. There are four options for creating your budget and you can select the one you would prefer:

  • Quick start Q&A – You can either answer a series of questions and your budget will then be generated.
  • Quick list - You can create a quick list of transactions which can be tweaked later.
  • If you already have a budget in our free app, you can import it into Budget Pro.
  • You can manually build your budget, adding the details to each budget item as you go.

What budget items are used to build a budget in the app?

We currently have four different budget items in the app:

  • Income – Income is defined as any money that you receive into your account. This may include your salary, rental income or benefit payments.
  • Expense - Expenses are defined as anything that comes out of your account. These are typically household bills such as Rent or Mortgage, Energy Bills, Food etc. These expenses can be categorised into fixed and flexible, making it easy for you to identify your essential costs as well as the costs which could be reduced if necessary.
  • Transfer – If you move money from one account to another, this can be reflected in your budget.
  • Savings – Savings can be added to your budget once you have added a Savings Account.

If this is the first time you have created a budget, our How to Start Budgeting page may be helpful.

Can I customise my budget in Budget Pro?

There are several options to customise your budget. Once logged in, please go to “Options” where you can change the layout, time zone and date display, as well as customising your spend bars.

Do I need to give you my bank account details?

No. We will not ask you for your bank account details. When we ask you for the account you wish to track, it’s just a name for the account which makes sense to you. We do not need the account number or sort code.

In order for Budget Pro to create accurate projections, you will need to update the balances for each account that you are tracking. However, we will never ask for identifying information for a bank account.

Does Budget Pro support Open Banking?

We don’t currently support Open Banking but it is included in Our Roadmap as a feature which we will add in future updates. However, it will be a feature which users will be required to opt-in to. We want to reiterate that Budget Pro will never require your banking information.

Can I get a refund if Budget Pro isn’t for me?

We really hope you’ll find Budget Pro useful for managing your budget. However, if for any reason you feel like the app just isn’t for you, you can request a full refund within 30 days of your purchase. Please contact us at support@costs-to-expect.com and we’ll process your request.

Can I delete my data from Budget Pro?

Yes. It’s really important to us that you have full control over your data. If you wish to delete your data or your account with us, please sign in and go to “Manage my Data”. You will be able to reset your account, delete your data in Budget Pro or delete your Costs to Expect Account altogether. This means that we will delete all of your data across all of our Apps instantly.

Please note that if you choose to delete data, this cannot be recovered later.

How does Costs to Expect protect my data?

We take your privacy very seriously and you can review our Privacy Policy here. In short, we only request data that is absolutely necessary to provide you with desired services. We will never share or sell your data with third parties, except when required by law to do so.

If your question has not been answered here, please email us. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

If you want to learn more about budgeting in general, take a look at our Budgeting Q&A's.